The Most-Read Articles From Evidence-Based Diabetes ManagementTM for 2018

Mary Caffrey

Mary Caffrey

Authors who contributed to Evidence-Based Diabetes Management™ (EBDM) during 2018 covered a range of topics, but many discussed the need for reimbursement systems to better align with what works best for people living with diabetes. The top 5 most-read items for the year are:

5. Is It Time to Remodel Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support?

Hope S. Warshaw, MMSc, RD, CDE, BC-ADM, a former president of the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE), answered “yes” to this question in her commentary about the state of DSMES. Warshaw calls for an overhaul of the Medicare benefit to better match the needs of primary care providers and for changes to make greater use of diabetes educators, at a time when there are shortages in primary care and great need to assist patients with self-management. Warshaw’s commentary appeared in an issue that featured coverage of the AADE annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.

Henry Anhalt, DO, vice president of medical affairs for Science 37, discusses how digital technology allows for the recruitment of more diverse patient populations for clinical trials, as well as data for payers and a more accelerated timeline for drug manufacturers seeking to bring new therapies to the market. The use of digital technology to recruit underrepresented patient populations has the potential to tell payers and pharmaceutical sponsors more about the use of therapies among those most in need of diabetes care.

In June, EBDM published the Joslin Clinical Guidelines, a project spearheaded by Robert A. Gabbay, MD, PhD, FACP, who is the senior vice president and chief medical officer at Joslin Diabetes Center, and Om P. Ganda, MD, chair of the Joslin Diabetes Center Clinical Oversight Committee. Publication of the guidelines makes the best practices of diabetes care at Joslin more accessible to a wider audience. Dr Gabbay is the editor-in-chief of EBDM.

Pharmacists with the Huron Valley Physicians’ Association of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Beaumont Hospital of Royal Oak, Michigan published results from a pharmacist-managed diabetes clinic, which showed a positive effect on patients’ ability to achieve a glycated hemoglobin level below 8%. Rates of nephropathy screening also improved.

1.The Potential of a Population Health Strategy to Improve Healthcare Outcomes and Reduce Costs for Medicaid Programs
David J. Dzielak, PhD, the former director of Medicaid for Mississippi, described the early success of a public-private partnership to improve health outcomes through a population health strategy aimed at reducing preterm births and preventing progression of prediabetes to type 2 diabetes. The concept was needed at a time when rising Medicaid costs were consuming a larger share of the state budget.